Meeting of the Parliament 02 November 2016
These are not new problems. Scottish football needs to recognise that society does not agree that historical tribalism is a justification for abusive behaviour. Football cannot simply wash its hands here. Football is an integral part of our society, and it needs to be part of the solution.
We should be promoting the game in Scotland and trying to encourage more people to go to football games, especially the next generation of fans—the ones who will be the lifeblood of the game in the future. Instead, we hear of families who are put off from going because they do not wish to expose their children to the inappropriate behaviour of the hard-core minority who sour the atmosphere and make it unwelcoming for the majority.
I turn to a few of the misconceptions about the act that we keep hearing. People have suggested that it was not needed because existing legislation was sufficient. However, we saw in the independent academic evaluation of the act that it brought a new clarity to the law. I refer members to the submission that the Crown Office made just a few weeks ago to Mr Kelly’s consultation, in which it made the point directly that the act was dealing with offending behaviour for which the prosecution may not have been able to secure a conviction using existing legislation.
Neil Findlay rose—
Douglas Ross rose—